FedEx: Holiday shipping to increase 13% this year

FedEx announced today that it expects to deliver a record 280 million packages between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, according to CNN Money. FedEx is projecting that its shipments will increase by 13 percent during the holiday period, due to more online shopping.

To handle the extra packages, the Memphis, Tenn.-based company plans to hire 20,000 seasonal workers, about the same as last year, CNN Money reported.

FedEx recently cut its fiscal 2013 global forecast for the second time this year, explaining that slower growth in China, European economy struggles, high energy prices and budget-conscious customers were shrinking its profit outlook, Reuters reported. The company said today that it had already included the anticipated holiday boost in shipments in its earnings outlook.

"A lot of this is going through SmartPost, a cheaper delivery option,” Kevin Sterling, BB&T Capital Markets analyst in Richmond, Va., told Reuters. “Customers are moving to a slower mode of shipping, which drives down (FedEx's) revenue per package."

On FedEx’s busiest day of the year – which it predicts will be Dec. 10 – the company expects to move about 19 million shipments, 10 percent more than last year. That would also make it the busiest day in FedEx history.

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